Sarah Todd and Declan Cleary’s blossoming relationship on MasterChef Australia 2025 has been one of the season’s biggest talking points. And, following her shock elimination in Episode 52, Sarah gave us an update on where things stand between them.
“It’s all going amazing,” Sarah told Chattr.
“We’ve moved into our house and are still unpacking boxes at the moment. So, I think, in life, moving house is one of the most stressful things, and we’ve managed to be unscathed and no arguments, so it’s going strong,” she laughed.
Sarah, who made it to the top six on MasterChef Australia 2025, told Chattr that having Declan compete alongside her was an amazing support, and she was really upset when he was sent home during the June 29 episode.
“I was devastated seeing Declan getting eliminated,” she said. “He’s so talented and passionate about food, and has a lot of creativity in the kitchen.
“Selfishly, I was devastated for myself as well, having that joy in the kitchen, and to be able to walk out after a cook and [have him]. We were just, like, doing our workouts and just having a lot of fun outside of the kitchen. So it definitely relieved a lot of that pressure of the intensity of the competition, so it was definitely not a fun day.”
The couple live with Sarah’s 14-year-old son, Phoenix, and she said that Declan usually takes care of the cooking for them.
“We cook every night. Declan loves cooking at home; he often cooks every meal as well, and it’s been fun. Getting to cook without all of those pressures and just cook comfort food at home has been really nice.”
MasterChef’s Samira started to cotton on to their romance during filming
MasterChef Australia 2025’s Declan Cleary and Sarah Todd officially announced that they are dating in June — right before Samira El Khafir‘s elimination episode aired. She told Chattr that she sensed that something romantic was brewing between them during filming.
“I had a feeling something was happening,” she told Chattr. “Their friendship was quite close. I’m really, really happy for both of them when it came out in the news, I think it was yesterday or the day before. I was super excited about it, because they are both absolutely lovely people, really lovely.”
While Samira said she hadn’t spoken to them about their relationship at that point, she gushed about them individually.
“I just think they’re fantastic as they are — couple or not, I haven’t really seen them together as a couple, because I got eliminated towards when that phase happened. But, you know, they really got along like a house on fire, which was so nice to see. It is actually really nice to see when people are getting along and have something more grow out of it.”
“I was there to see the friendship bloom, and then I missed out on the rest!” she laughed.
Andre spills more information about MasterChef’s Sarah and Declan
In an interview with Chattr, Andre Ursini added that while he doesn’t pry into Sarah and Declan’s private life, he was great mates with Declan while the show was filming. “I was actually quite close to Declan, he’s got some sort of X-Factor about him. He’s very unique, really likeable and on the flip side, Sarah was a bit of an onion,” he spilled.
“It took me a while to get to know [Sarah] and she’s a really impressive strong woman. So I don’t ask them about their personal life after that, I just think they’re both still people and they found themselves through hours on set on MasterChef, which is quite miraculous.”
How did MasterChef’s Sarah and Declan get together?
Declan and Sarah told Stellar that they built a strong friendship through the first part of filming the 2025 season.
Decland said that when Sarah was put up in an elimination challenge (which may have been Episode 18), he realised that it was time to make a move on her.
“I was [panicking]: ‘Oh sh*t. I’ve been spending all this time with this bloody amazing chick and now she might be leaving!’” he told the publication.
“And so, as she’s walking into the elimination [challenge], I said, ‘Sarah, can I ask you something? Would you like to go on a date with me?’ And she just looked at me and said, ‘You’re a bloody idiot!’
Declan explained that Sarah took a few days to think about it, then accepted his offer and the two had their first date at Grampians National Park.
“When we got to the top [of the mountain]…he opened his backpack. He’d made this beautiful breakfast spread that we sat there and ate together,” Sarah explained.
Their relationship quickly gained traction and Declan’s left his hometown of Sydney and moved in with Sarah and her son in Melbourne.
“Not only is she the most grounded, intelligent and creative person I’ve ever met, she has always appreciated me for who I am,” he said. “We connected through life experience; we’ve both been through a lot. We share the same values. There’s great chemistry between us. She keeps me classy, and I keep her a bit cheeky.”
We are obsessed!
MasterChef Australia airs on Sundays at 7pm and Monday – Wednesday at 7:30pm on Channel 10 and 10Play.
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